


people will say (we're in love)

by DashFnanz



Series: This World is Hallowed [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Developing Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Relationship Discussions, Romantic Fluff, Secret Relationship, this is actually super fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27210610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFnanz/pseuds/DashFnanz
Summary: All Sirius can think about is Remus to the point where he desperately needs to do something about it. Tonight, Sirius does. Muggle boarding school AU. Romance, fluff.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: This World is Hallowed [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986538
Comments: 4
Kudos: 100





	people will say (we're in love)

**Author's Note:**

> I've really been getting into short things lately, haven't I? Amazing. I'm on a roll here.
> 
> Hey, guys! Back with another fic for y'all. This is part of a series of Muggle oneshots, just as it says on the tin. Each fic will be a standalone one-shot. I've always wanted to make a collection XD
> 
> The idea for this little number came from, unsurprisingly, a fanfic I'm irrevocably in love with. There's this lovely little scene in there which references a song from the musical _Oklahoma!_ and these are the lyrics which spurred me to write this fic—"Sweetheart, they're suspecting things…people will say we're in love…"
> 
> In case you're wondering—yes, the scene in that fic is as beautiful as those lyrics.
> 
> Shoutout to my fabulous beta, Arianna [(arcane illusions)](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/13468353/arcane-illusions) for her valuable input and her valiant efforts to temper my comma usage XD
> 
> Disclaimer: J.K Rowling is _not_ a goddess, but her writing is magical, and I can never compare. So, she keeps the characters, the places and her own created world, while I borrow them all every now and then like the pathetic human I am. The plot is all mine though!
> 
> Warnings/tags: m/m relationship, allusions to homophobia.

* * *

"Why me?" he thinks as he watches Remus smile.

For the past ten months, it's been nothing but Remus. _Remus, Remus, Remus._

Remus curled on his bed, Remus marking notes in his textbook, Remus arguing over a prank, Remus bodily defending his chocolate, Remus sleeping off one of his endless sicknesses, Remus glaring, Remus rolling his eyes, Remus grinning, Remus laughing, Remus, Remus, Remus.

Sirius is getting tired of never having anyone else to think about but Remus.

Feelings are harder to endure than the frilly, superficial drivel all those chick flicks show—Sirius can attest to that. Feelings are complex, complicated; they give him enough insecurity that he might get a migraine from them and enough anxiety that he might break out in hives.

He has never analysed every second spent with a person this much in his life.

He's hypersensitive to _everything_ , even right now. All it takes is for Remus to be within his forcefield, and he's gone. All these years sharing a dorm with the boy, all these years being his best friend, but it's now that his heart chooses to blur the lines between friendship and something more.

Remus turns that lovely smile to him, and the turn of his lips grows immeasurably softer. Sirius feels his breath catch. They _are_ something more, but he doesn't know what that something is. He hopes that Remus knows, because if Remus doesn't, he doesn't know if he would be able to satisfy himself with keeping what they have the way it is—unidentified and nameless.

A secret.

People are suspecting things. He sees it on their faces; his classmates think they're in love. He's hardly opposed to drama, especially drama caused by himself, but God, they're in a _boarding school,_ for Pete's sake. Could this be any more cliché?

James, his other best friend—and thankfully, one he's not in love with—turns to him and winks with a barely concealed grin. He feels his face warm up at the insinuation.

James turns back to talk to Peter, the last in their group, but Sirius continues to stare at the side of his best friend's face. Even James, clueless, mercifully oblivious James, has started to notice the tension between him and Remus. He doesn't blame James' only superpower, his persistent ignorance, for failing so spectacularly—he knows that he has been woefully incapable of keeping his idiotic feelings under wraps. He wouldn't be surprised if the school's caretaker is also aware of said _feelings._ It would explain all the vile glares Filch throws his way when they walk past the cranky old man.

Sometimes, it feels like the whole school is staring at him, expecting him to confirm something he doesn't know, which _they_ do, and it is beyond frustrating. He'd like to know what's going on between him and Remus, he really would, but he's genuinely afraid that if it's up to him to bring up the conversation, he'll never have the courage to broach the subject at all. And judging from the way Remus now stares at him, he concludes that yes, Remus does expect him to be the one to start talking.

Sirius bites his lip and glances away.

The corridor is much less crowded as they walk to their last afternoon class. He looks around yet again, secretly admiring the vibrant paintings hung high on the stone walls and the bright, glaring sunlight streaming in through the clear glass of the school's endless windows. Hogwarts Towers is unlike any boarding school he's ever seen or heard of, from its peculiar name to its rough brown-grey stone walls to its sprawling estate. He loves every inch of this school— _his_ school. He and his friends have made a castle out of their playground here, and he knows that he'll be hard-pressed to leave when he must inevitably let it go.

He'll find it harder to let Remus go, though.

The thought of Remus makes him tune in to the boy again, and he silently watches Remus' handsome profile as his three friends laugh and joke ahead of him. He's usually right there with them, leading the pack and cracking jokes and teasing out laughs and soaking in Remus' happiness, but today is just one of those rare days when he just feels like observing from the back and catching up.

Catching up is all he's been doing lately; he may as well make it official.

"Oi, mate, are you ever gonna make a move?" someone hisses in his ear.

He turns to see who it is, and catches the signature orange-red hair and clustered freckles of one of the Prewett twins, but a second voice whispers in his other ear before he identifies which one it is.

"Yeah, mate," the other voice says, identical to the first, "we have a lot riding on you two, y'know. The other blokes in the betting pool are getting restless."

"We'd be delighted if you could get it together," the first continues, "preferably within this week."

A boy in the year above him passes by them close enough to hear the twins speak, and he shoots Sirius a look of utter disgust. His temper rises at the filthy look.

"Get _what_ together?" Sirius angrily whispers back. He can feel his mounting frustration leaking into his tone.

"Fine, if you want to keep playing dumb," the second voice says, sounding the slightest bit amused, "But we're not opposed splitting up the profits, if you want something in it for you. Say, eighty-twenty?"

"Eighty to us, of course," the first one interjects.

Scowling, Sirius lets out a low growl.

"Will you two gits just shut up and tell me what you're talking about?" he mutters, glaring at each of them in turn.

They blink at him, then lean forward, exchanging silent looks around Sirius. He gets another eyeful of their tangerine-coloured hair.

"Well?" he persists.

The one on the left—Gideon, his mind supplies—muffles a soft snort, a sound instantly copied by Fabian on the right. They shake their heads at him and stride on up the corridor, still snickering. They don't spare a glance for Sirius' friends as they pass by, lost in their apparent mirth.

When Remus turns back to check on him, inquisitive brow and questioning frown, he finds Sirius staring at the twins' backs dumbly.

"What was that, mate?" James calls back to him, turning around as well, but Sirius has no reply. He simply shrugs, hoping the answer is enough.

James shrugs back, and Peter smiles, but Remus' probing look doesn't go away.

He finds people staring at him again as they walk on. Their expressions range from amused to disgusted, a whole spectrum of emotions directed solely to mock him for the object of his affections. Each of their curious gazes feels like a brand against his skin, burning and judging, and he hates that he's having another of _those_ days today, because he just cannot ignore them.

He lets his friends walk on again, content to drag on behind them and play catch up. James doesn't call attention to it, and Peter doesn't notice. When they're about twenty feet away from the door to their History classroom, though, Remus slows down and waits for him.

Oblivious as ever, James and Peter continue on, walking through and disappearing behind the doors.

"You alright?" Remus' soft voice whispers to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replies, faking a quick smile for him.

Remus hums, but the look he levels back tells Sirius that he has caught the lie in his words. Remus smiles, a soft, tiny thing, reaching down to lightly squeeze at Sirius' arm with his free hand.

Sirius looks at Remus, with his books in one hand and his heavy bookbag slung over his shoulder, tawny curls and golden-brown eyes and quiet beauty and that sweet, sweet smile, and he falls a little deeper for him.

"Why didn't you go with them?" he asks on instinct.

Remus frowns, as if the answer should be obvious.

"I was waiting for you to catch up."

Sirius stares. Remus looks so innocent as he says this, calm and confused and filled with his own unshakable logic, never knowing how much he has unravelled Sirius with just those few simple words.

Sirius feels himself smiling back. Remus is standing right against a window, his features haloed by the bright afternoon sunlight. His hair shines against the sun, more blond than brown and so perfectly beautiful, and Sirius realises that he's done making Remus wait.

"This is the moment," he thinks to himself as he watches a smile bloom on Remus' pale face. He walks into History feeling more confident than he has in the last ten months.

.oOo.

Sirius silently crouches in the shadows behind a stone wall, peering across the empty hallway. Remus steadily walks down the moonlit corridor with Lily Evans, the two of them stoic as ever as they carry out their prefect duties _._ Sirius has Remus' patrol schedule memorised, and the two prefects are due to split up and separate any minute now.

Sirius takes utmost care to remain hidden as he follows them on their rounds. Remus wouldn't care much if he found Sirius lurking around after curfew, but Evans certainly would, and he had to be extra careful with her since she was a particularly paranoid chit.

Finally, after far too long, Lily turns quietly at a bend and leaves Remus to walk on ahead in silence.

Sirius keeps at his pace for a while, letting Remus go on a few minutes further before he picks up speed. He gives his dark hair a quick comb before he rounds the corner.

"You'll never know if you don't even try, right?" he mutters to himself as he walks away from the shadows.

He times it just right, getting Remus' attention just as they near the little alcove Sirius and his friends are all too familiar with, conveniently hidden behind the tall stone statue of one of the school's very first headmasters—the perfect place for him to talk to Remus.

"Sirius?" Remus looks confused when he sees him. "What are you doing here?"

Sirius chuckles, feeling the last vestiges of his nervousness ebb away. Seeing Remus' face, the moonlight illuminating his face doing nothing to hide his astonishment, makes Sirius all the more determined to solidify this thing between them. They could be so much—they could be _everything._

Sirius wants that _everything_. He wants it so much, that the sheer need makes his throat ache.

"Hey," he says, putting as much _casual_ into his voice as he can, "you busy?"

"Sirius, it's past curfew," Remus retorts, exasperated. "Why are you here?"

"Just wanted a chat with my favourite prefect," Sirius replies, shrugging. "Is that so wrong?"

"It is when it's past midnight and I'm doing patrols," Remus says dryly. "You do know that I can issue you a detention, right?"

"But you won't," Sirius smiles cheekily.

"I won't," Remus agrees, rolling his amber eyes reluctantly, "if you have a valid reason for being out here."

"I had a nightmare?" Sirius tries.

Remus crosses his arms, frowning.

"Okay fine, that's not true," Sirius concedes, letting his smile linger before it drops. "I _do_ want to talk to you, though."

Remus' brow furrows deeper at the seriousness in his voice. "What's wrong, Sirius?"

He looks around, then reaches for one of Remus' hands to drag him away from the center of the corridor. "How about we move somewhere more private?"

The exasperation returns. "Sirius, there's no one around."

"Come on, indulge me. Just the alcove there, nowhere crazy."

" _Fine."_

Sirius feels more assured the second he sees the owl tapestry hanging above the alcove. The alcove is _their_ corner, the one Sirius and his friends use all the time, whether for illicit mischief-making or secret conversations. It's their special place, with years of their relationship's history soaked into its walls. Surrounded by the rough stone and Remus, Sirius feels safe.

"What is it?" Remus asks when they are secure in its shadows.

He takes a breath.

"Remus. What are we?"

Remus gazes back, shocked.

"What?"

"This," Sirius gestures, "Us. What are we?"

"I—" Remus closes his mouth again, speechless.

Sirius gives him a quick, sympathetic little smile before he speaks again. He's been there, felt that overwhelming tangle of emotions pulling on its own threads. He isn't going to give up on this conversation, though. Not again, not now.

"I'm not pushing you for a relationship, Remus," he says, infinitesimally choking on the words, "I just want to know what this _is._ Not knowing is driving me crazy."

"When you pulled me here, I did not expect this conversation," Remus finally answers. His bright eyes look anxious.

"Wouldn't expect you to," he responds, quirking a wry smile. "This is just a little bit spontaneous from my end too, if I'm honest."

"I won't ask what brought this on, then," Remus says with a matching quirk of lips.

"If you do, I wouldn't expect myself to answer," Sirius finishes. He sobers. "I do want to know, though. How do you see us, Remus?"

"How do _you_ see us, Sirius?"

Another deep breath. "Something amazing."

He catches Remus' eyes. Remus gasps inaudibly at his words, but he doesn't look away.

"I can't tell what I should want for myself," Sirius admits, "when I don't know what _you_ want."

Remus looks torn, and Sirius doesn't know why. "I don't know what to say," he whispers, and Sirius feels the first shreds of doubt creep in since he decided to follow Remus in the moonlight.

"Well, you have to say something," he says, strained, "because I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"I—I want there to be an us." Remus' voice sounds wrecked. "I want us to be together."

Sirius heaves a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."

"I'm not sure how well some might take it, though," Remus continues, and Sirius identifies the emotion that makes his voice sound so broken. _Regret._ "Sirius, I—I'm not brave like you."

"You don't have to be brave," Sirius says earnestly, taking Remus' hands in his, "You just have to be with me. Nothing more."

Remus snorts softly. "It's not that easy, Sirius. Not with us. Don't you know what some of them think about people like us?"

"It's not something I can forget," Sirius answers, shooting another wry smile. "I've heard the whispers."

"Then you know why we can't make this public."

He laughs in reply. "Rem, have you seen the looks? We can't hide this from them, not even when we're trying to hide it from ourselves. We're just… completely incapable of keeping this a secret."

"I noticed," Remus replies. He worries his lip. "I'm scared, Sirius." Sirius squeezes his hand, but he looks away. "I am so scared. I don't know if I'm strong enough."

Sirius pauses to think, and belatedly, he wonders at how much falling for Remus has changed him. He's never had reason to think before speaking before.

"The true question should be," he finally says, "if you think this is worth it. You're always the strongest of us if you think a cause is worth enough, Rem."

"I—"

Sirius holds his breath.

"I think we're worth fighting for."

He lets it out.

Remus smiles at him, a soft, shy thing, and the look in those amber eyes makes his heart beat faster than ever. Remus thinks they're _worth it_. Remus wants there to be a _them_.

"I guess," Remus continues in his soft, sure tones, "you'll just have to remind me of our worth when I forget. Is that—is that okay? "

"More than okay," he assures with a relieved look before his smile returns. "I'll enjoy every second of showing it to you."

Remus' grins for a split second, and the bright mischief in the turn of his gaze makes Sirius swallow.

"So, uh—"

Remus' face is neutral, but Sirius can see the wickedness in the tiny twitch of his lips, and he knows that his own grey eyes must be sparkling in response.

He gives Remus his best _go on_ gesture, and the curve to those full pink lips deepens.

"I think this is the moment where we seal the deal."

Sirius grins. "Is it, now?" he replies teasingly. "And how do we do it?"

"Like this," Remus whispers, stepping closer, and in the next second, Sirius is being kissed.

For all the anticipation the past ten months has put him through, their first kiss is nothing more than a simple press of lips. Gentle. It's nothing like he imagined, but he doesn't regret even a fraction of the seconds spent locked into this kiss with Remus Lupin.

It's perfect.

Sirius' arms come up to pull him closer when he starts to move back. He feels Remus' breath hover over his lips, and the soft warmth makes him smile.

"Mmm, I'm not done yet," he murmurs against Remus' skin before he leans in for another kiss. He feels Remus' palm brush against the back of his neck as he presses closer to the body in his arms.

When they next pull away, Sirius is significantly more lightheaded. He feels near euphoric, an overwhelming vacuum in his chest threatening to consume him. He hasn't felt this way in his life.

"I feel like I'm in a dream," Remus murmurs to him giddily.

He chuckles lightly, pulling Remus closer for a quick second in the semblance of a hug. "This is no dream," he whispers on a quiet laugh, "This is really happening."

Remus smiles, and ducks in for a third kiss.

"You still in?" he presses the question to Remus' kiss-red lips before they let go of each other.

"Can't back out now," Remus' soft voice replies, "now that I've had a taste of what we could be."

"You sure? They'll still talk, Rem. We can't stop them, however much we try."

"Let them," Remus responds quietly.

His voice is lesser than a whisper, but it carries a rush of confidence that puts Sirius instantly at ease.

Sirius gives him a questioning look, and he continues sheepishly, "You were right. We're not exactly capable of hiding this from them. They'll find out, whether we want them to or not."

He swallows, looking up into Sirius' eyes. "But I'm not ashamed of us," he says, "and they can't make me."

And this, _this_ is the boy Sirius fell in love with ten months ago. He can't fight a smile, and he doesn't try to.

"They can't make you, huh?" he echos with a grin, feeling his heart soar. "You gonna fight them, then?"

"I won't fight them, Sirius," Remus says with a shake of his tawny curls, "I'll fight _for_ us. There's a difference."

"So I see," he answers, biting his lip to keep the smile down. "Does _fighting for us_ include taking points and handing detentions? Because I would _love_ to see that."

"That's abuse of privilege!" Remus exclaims, making him laugh again. "I can't do that!"

He looks horrified. Sirius laughs harder.

"Come here, you," he chuckles, pulling Remus close, and they're back again with the kissing. It's glorious.

He will never get tired of kissing Remus Lupin.

"This is it," he says when they break apart again, "We're really gonna do this."

"Seems so," Remus murmurs back.

His lips curl up teasingly. "They're already suspecting things, sweetheart. People will say we're in love."

"Are they wrong?" Remus counters, lifting his chin.

"No," he breathes out reverently, "they aren't."

"Then why should we care what they say?"

Sirius looks at him, with his firm chin and pale skin, his fair hair shining bright like a beacon in the moonlight. Remus smiles, and he smiles with his whole face, and Sirius sinks a little deeper in love.

"God, I adore you," he gasps, drawing Remus into a firm hug. "Thank you," he whispers in his ear as he holds on tight, and he feels Remus squeeze him back.

"I should be the one thanking you, Siri," that gentle voice floats over his skin. "We would have been nothing if you didn't take that chance with me."

"I'm glad I did," he murmurs, pulling Remus even closer.

.oOo.

Sirius follows Remus on his rounds, all through to the end of his patrol. He walks with his _boyfriend_ —because yes, he gets to call Remus that, now—through the interconnected maze of hallways that make up the school with nothing but the moonlight to light their way, talking about everything and nothing at once while they still have the privilege of absolute silence and complete lack of prying ears. They can hold hands and touch arms and kiss cheeks as much as they'd like, and the freedom of privacy is as wonderful and exhilarating and addicting as it sounds.

Sirius never wants it to end.

He has to fall back and let Remus walk on alone when they reach the meeting point with Evans. Remus teases him about it, but like he responds, there's no way he's about to willingly offer himself on a platter to Evans' wrath.

Now, Remus' wrath, on the other hand, he doesn't mind offering himself to.

"Don't even think of doing this again," Remus sternly warns him when he has exchanged his reports with Evans. She takes the shorter route when they split up, while Remus uses the longer route on the last leg of his patrol before they reach their dorms.

"Oh, come on," he responds, resolving to goad Remus at least a little bit, "Don't say that you regret me following you out tonight."

"Not _this_ time," Remus replies, softening for but a second before his stance hardens again into his no-nonsense expression. Sirius happily takes his fill of the stern gaze; Remus is _hot_ when he's like this.

Remus narrows his eyes, giving him one of his signature _shut up, Sirius_ looks, and Sirius shuts up and grins unabashedly. "But the next time I catch you out after curfew, I _will_ give you detention, Sirius. Don't you dare try to pull the dating card on me."

"Who, me?" Sirius tries for an innocent face, but the shameless grin still pulling at the corners of his mouth ruins the look.

Remus glares.

"What if I pay up in kisses instead?" he tries. Remus glares harder. "Footrubs?"

"Shut up, Sirius."

"Okay!" he answers brightly. Remus narrows his eyes at him suspiciously.

"I mean it, Sirius," his boyfriend says again. "I don't want to see you breaking curfew every time you feel like it. If you do it again, I will _not_ hesitate to enforce the same rules I'm meant to uphold where every student within Hogwarts is concerned. It's my duty as a Prefect, and you're not the exception." He folds his arms, tucking his hands into the crooks of his elbows. "Do I make myself clear?"

His grin widens. Remus looks so adorable with his dark glower and crossed arms, belied so perfectly by his primly done up white collar and his soft maroon sweater—Sirius' favourite one, the maroon contrasts marvellously with his fair skin—and well, what else can Sirius do when he's this much in love but splay his hands across those lovely cheekbones and kiss his gorgeous human specimen senseless?

"Crystal," he breathes when he pulls back, taking in Remus' breathlessness, and his boyfriend seems to have forgotten what they had been talking about. _Perfect._

"We should celebrate," he says when they've both caught their breaths. "Any ideas?"

They are not far from their dorm, but it's two a.m. and he's here with Remus, and this, everything, it's all _real_ , and he's in no hurry to get back.

The impishness in his boyfriend's smile tells him that Remus is in no hurry to get back to their dorm either.

"I'm sure you have enough ideas for the both of us," his boyfriend teasingly retorts, and he grins at the permission.

"Oh, you bet I do," he breathes with promise, and caging Remus against the rough stone wall, he leans in to carry out idea number one.

Tonight is a good night.

* * *


End file.
